In analytical research and clinical diagnostic testing, vessels, or wells, in plates are used as test tubes. The fluid contained in these wells may intentionally or unintentionally contain particles in a variety of different shapes and sizes. Unintentional particles can originate from a number of different sources, such as from the environment, from incorrect handling or storage of the fluids, or as a residual from forming, packaging, or filling. The fluid can also contain bubbles. As a result, the fluid contained in the vessels is subjected to quality control procedures in which particles contained in the fluid need to be characterized.
Traditional plate-reading systems are incapable of imaging large volumes of fluid at once. For example, conventional plate-reading systems may rely on fluorescence techniques or optical components that utilize microscope objectives. When microscope objectives are implemented, only a thin volume or “slice” of sample fluid can be imaged at any given time given the short field of view that is inherent with such systems. Thus, to analyze an entire volume of fluid, such systems need to analyze several obtained image slices for each vessel, which increases the time required to perform image analyses.